Bio
Dr. Christopher J. Hershey is an R&D Staff Member in the Extreme Environment Materials Processing group within Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Science Division. He serves as a research lead for carbon-carbon manufacturing with a focus in defense applications such as hypersonic thermal protection systems. He has worked with nationally recognized programs, such as the Hot 4 Hypersonics (H4H) sounding rocket campaigns, in collaboration with defense sponsors and national laboratories to develop and integrate multiple flight test articles.
Since joining ORNL, Hershey has also advanced large‑scale thermoset additive manufacturing, with successful technology transfer of the printing platform co-developed at ORNL. He and the team were recognized with the Federal Laboratory Consortium National Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer.
Dr. Hershey holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University, specializing in nonlinear rheology of thermoplastics, thermosets, composites, and foams. He also holds more than two dozen publications, two patents, and two patent applications and has mentored several post‑docs, staff, and students, leveraging his teaching and leadership experience to develop talent within the areas of additive and defense manufacturing.